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Terror Riders
The Terror Riders were a band of five revenant horseriders that sowed death and carnage across Oseros during the final years of the Black Age. They became the most notorious revenants of their time (and to some, of all time) and nearly toppled the Grand Paladin Order singlehandedly. Their reign of terror lasted roughly two decades, its end marked with their demise, met at at the hands of the Triune, where all save for Sangaar and the Lord of Bones were slain. Though their defeat shed light on the inevitable end of the Black Age, the Riders' legacy and tales live on to this very day, the mention of their very names being associated with poor luck and sorrow. Morinetav horse = Abastor Wallen horse = Trotter Sangaar horse = Albara Deverin horse = Veillantif Lord of bones horse = Kharazar History Formation of the Terror Riders The tide had turned against the revenant forces of Thendarr in the final years of the Black Age, courtesy of the Grand Paladin Order, and the various barbaric warbands that had been scouring the lands. Several months of planning did it take to prepare perhaps the largest attack against the Order, the goal being to conquer and destroy one of their largest beacons of enlightenment and faith, the . Revenants from all over Thendarr had united for the occassion, the Riders being no exception. Revenants from birthplaces even unknown to one another, of low and high birth, with even different methods of blackcasting and ways of worship to their demon lords, set their differences aside and joined forces. Already stained with tales of their ruthlessness, power and ambition, the Terror Riders, who met through their new common mission, became one of the many leading figures in the combined forces. After the , one of the last and most destructive battles between revenants and paladins, the revenant force was left completely overrun, with the surviviors scrambling and fleeing in chaos. During the chaos, it was Deverin the Imposing who set out to find and group the others amidst the corpses and stench of death. Eventually all finding one another, they managed, if barely, to escape the mangled field of battle. Following the wisdom and command of Deverin, the five joined forces, and through their loyal, iconic steeds, came to be known as the Terror Riders - a plague upon the world, walking diseases with power over the most complex of blackcasting spells, and glory of invincibility. The Beginning As they fled through the countryside of the riders would come across numerous farms, and more often then not they would simply kill the inhabitants and take the home for themselves for as long as it suited them. As this continued, they realized they had garnered a reputation of their own, and they reveled at the idea of continuing their battle against the paladins. This would be the start of their campaigns of Terror, as they rode across the farmlands far from cities spreading death and destruction. The riders would eventually adopt the persona of riders, realizing the only way to outrun the mounted paladins would be to become masters of their own horses. They would each name their own horses, and in turn the horses would become loyal, even following the five into undeath. Notoriety After only one year had passed, the riders had already collected a death toll so high they became a major concern of the triune. The paladins were discovering entire hamlets devoid of any life, except perhaps the living dead left behind, and this fact brought great fear to the Triune. This would grant them the name of the Terror Riders, and for a long time the Triune did not exactly know how many there were. The Grand Paladin Order became heavily devouted to reprimanding the five, and bands of nearly a hundred men could be found scouring the countryside, some times even many hundreds, searching for what they believed to be a large cult. However, unknowingly this would serve to benefit the five riders, as they were able to travel much quicker and through offcharted paths more easily than the large groups. Undeath As the Terror Riders continued to grow in fame, they too sought to grow in their understanding of , and were given ample subjects and corpses for their dark experiments of necromancery and demonology. Paladins would often find the remains of their experiments in whatever homes they had last taken residence in, often they where gruesome for various purposes. Their notoriety would eventually catch the attention of the lich-in-hiding, the once infamous . Meeting them within the , the riders were more than honored to take residence with , and perhaps learn of his secrets. Under the tutelage of , the Terror Rider's learned a great deal on , on it's nature and history, as well as ways to use it. It was here, the Lord of Bones would learn necromancery and adopt his name. After four months had passed, the riders had become so adept they were ready to undertake a ritual into undeath, to become liches. With the aid of , the five ritually commit suicide as night approached, and on the next morning the five awoke again, free from their humanity. Independance Final Days After nearly a year of behind hunted by , the five riders would find themselves cornered at last in the old Crusader keep of , long abandoned during the . Completely surrounded and knowing that a direct confrontation with 's forces would lead to death, the five instead sealed themselves within the keep. The siege would last months, with the five having no reason to ever leave. After nearly six months, has become fed up with waiting and planned an assault on the keep. The paladins stormed knocked down the gates and hoisted the ladders, making sure to flood every inch of the castle and prevent any escape. Members Morinetav the Bloody An exceptionally large man hailing from the Kingdom of Ostgate, in modern day north Valschent. Of all the riders, he was the most violent and the very fury he fought with instilled horror into anyone observing. Morinetav's weapon would gain an infamy of it's own, becoming known as the Bloody Blade. It was a massive steel longsword with jagged edges. It has garnered it's own legend surrounding it with various claimed magical properties, and many have attempted to seek it out, none so far successful. He would ritually take the blood of every enemy he had killed and drink it. He would also create gorey displays from the corpses, or sometimes still living bodies, of his enemies, such as hang them from trees or stick them on pikes. His acts of violence were considered excessive even by the other riders, but to him he was appeasing the void gods. His obsession with blood and violence came from his former involvement in one of the blood cults that were common in the northern lands. Wallen the Pestillent Though largely attributed to be a master of disease and decay, this was not neccessarily the case. To the riders, Wallen was their greatest alchemist, and he had an undying interest in the sciences and the natural world, this including death. Though in his alchemical career he created a wide array of tonics, few that worked, the outside world would only become familiar with the terrible ailments he unleashed into the world. Using techniques to preserve diseases, such as carrying dead rats or keeping infected crops in jars, he was able to clear fields of wheat or sicken an entire family without ever being tracked to him. He had also learned many other tricks, such as ways to attract locust or mice to a specific place. Wallen was known for his skull mace, a two handed mace with an iron-casted skull as the head. Wallen was also notable for his thick Dunnic accent, hailing from the highlands of Welscond, yet actually being born in Uvarthak and sailing south when he was young. Sangaar the Silent Death Sangaar the Silent, once a contracted assassin from the Qamian city-state of , was driven to insanity by torture after being captured during a failed assassination. His torture had left him permanently physically and mentally scarred. He was known for his unstable behavior and erratic movements. He also possessed a twitch in his fingers and left shoulder, most likely due to nerve damages from his torture. Despite his lunacy and often incoherent rambling, Sangaar still retained his skills as an assassin, remarked for his true aim with a bow and the silence he could carry himself with. It was said that not a single sound ever emitted from his body or his horse, and he could follow one for a whole day and you'd never hear him. His favored weapon was a bow, and with it he could strike through a helmet's visor on horseback from over a hundred meters. Sangaar was also a master of analyzing his surroundings, he could pick out numerous details from things around his enviroment that others would never think of. This would aid greatly in helping the horsemen to escape numerous sticky situations. His keen senses and precision was in stark contrast to his jumbled and maniacal disposition. Despite his seemingly unstable self, he was still a loyal member to the riders, and would rarely be the one to get involved in their inter-conflicts, let alone start one himself. However, he did have an outward goal, that one day he would return to Qa'min and wreak terrible vengeance on those who tortured him. The Lord of Bones The most enigmatic of the five, his story remained a mystery to even the riders themselves. Often he had worn a mask of black wood, but it covered nothing more than a twisted skeleton. Few had ever even heard him say a single word, however the writings of Wallen would show he did speak to the other riders. Despite this, he remained largely a mystery to the other riders, his past life, and even name, completely unknown. The Lord of Bones was considered one of the greatest necromancers of his age, surpassed only by the ones of ancient times who's knowledge had long disappeared. His mastery of necromancy wrought terror and catastrophe upon his enemies. His main weapon of choice was a pike made of bone. One characteristic of the Lord of Bones was his love of reading, and often he would plunder the libraries of Triunes. His horse, Kharazar, had many satchels filled with simply books. Evreness the Imposing Lady Evreness Monnier, as she was once was known as, was a noblewoman of the Divine Empire, born to one of their greatest houses, Monnier. Evreness would find herself the leader, and binding force, between the five riders. Her natural overbearing personality assisted in this, but it was not without justification. Highly intelligent, Devreness was known for her complex schemes and ploys she organized for the Riders. Devreness was cunning and quick-witted, and with the help of Sangaar, had saved the riders from capture multiple times. She was no lackluster fighter, however, and was an exceptional warrior with the shield and sword. She believed them to be the most effective choice of weapons, often scorning Morinetav's massive longsword.